I have had this on my backlog for about 2 years and originally with this I only got up to Episode 2 but I decided to give this anime another go now and COLOUR ME SURPRISED this is a diamond in the rough unexpectedly. To start with I will say that Ikkis backstory is sort of runofthemill but his motivation and his ability to look past what everyone thinks of him and to prove himself worthy of being a Knight is admirable. This was a main thing for establishing the dynamic between Ikki and Stella as Stella has had a similar need to Ikki in wanting to prove herself and so their partnership makes sense as well as their promise real nice to have there. In terms of plot it seems pretty plain to begin with and not so interesting but easily picks up as we get introduced to new characters such as Alice Ayatsuji and the student council capping off with a pretty dark climax and a satisfying end actually with Ikkis showdown between Todo. Short sweet and a pretty good visual spectacle to boot. As far as characters go I do like Stella since even though shes a tsundere she breaks the norm of tsundere behaviour pretty early on due to her newfound relationship with Ikki and becomes well developed as you go further into the series. Other characters like Ikki Alice Todo Ayatsuji etc. are pretty cool too. However in this show there is one character that I personally consider detestable and for me they definitely brought the experience down. And that character is none other than Shizuku. You see I dont like anime that even attempts to play around with the idea of a sibling relationship and playing siblings as love rivals one of the main reasons I dropped To LOVERuhttps://anilist.co/anime/3455/ToLoveRu/ in the OVA. And here Shizuku definitely is played like a love rival and I despise it. Because not only is she Ikkis fullblood sister but she tries to make it out as if her relationship with him is natural while he obviously objects and thinks otherwise. Her ideology on Ikkis neglect and having someone to care for him is natural I suppose... but everything about Shizukus actions with Ikki is morally wrong and that alone infuriates me. I cant stand it when something tries to justify a siblings relationship like that. And whats worse she does this for the majority of the anime and it just becomes annoying. Suffice it to say I dont like Shizukus character whatsoever. Despite this though everything else about this anime is pretty damn good. The visuals are nice the presentation is good the OP becomes really nice to listen to on repeat a hidden gem. And ED while not visually spectacular aside from any particular reasons of course lol the song used is pretty decent. Emotional points are used at the end of each arc pretty much so it never felt oversaturated nice balance there. While it is an ecchi I dont think its really sold on being that. Its mostly used in the intimate moments with Ikki and Stella and is actually executed pretty well. Overall this anime like I said before is a diamond in the rough. Although if it werent for how Shizuku was written along with her ideologies on love I would have definitely enjoyed this a lot more to be honest.